An Ocean Springs man has been sentenced for a deadly DUI crash in which he was behind the wheel, killing two people in July 2022.
Joseph Leo Nangle, 45, will spend the next 45 years behind bars. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 50 years for two aggravated DUI charges with the final five years being post-release supervision.
Nangle previously pleaded guilty to his role in the fiery five-vehicle crash that happened on U.S. 90 and took the lives of two sisters from New Orleans: Mary “Julie” Kelley, 52, and Elizabeth “Lisa” Conners, 54. Others were also injured during the incident.
During court proceedings, Nangle cried as he tried to make amends for killing the two women. He had been drinking and taking drugs at the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi before crossing the bridge over into Ocean Springs and crashing in front of the city’s Raising Cane’s restaurant.
“I am sorry I ruined your life,” Nangle told the Kelley family inside the courtroom. “I’m so sorry I ruined your life. I’m so sorry I ruined your family and my family.”
Nangle, who said he got sober after the fatal crash and has maintained sobriety for over 800 days since, had two DUIs on his record before killing two people. He told the judge at a plea hearing earlier this year that he did not remember the crash.
“My friend was playing blackjack,” Nangle said. “The next thing I remember, I was in ICU.”
Nangle had previously worked as a security guard at casinos across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He was arrested one week after the incident and initially held on a $500,000 bond before entering into a guilty plea.
